Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Top seed and defending champion
Victoria Azarenka was on the ropes in her third-round match at the Australian
Open, but she overcame American Jamie Hampton in three sets.
Azarenka's 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win came only after the native of Belarus rallied
against Hampton, who was suffering from chronic back problems during the
match.
Hampton, ranked 63rd in the world, was ahead 2-1 in the final set, but she
couldn't convert key break point opportunities and suffered 47 unforced
errors. Even being down 4-2 in that last set, Hampton raced to a 40-0 lead in
the seventh game, but Azarenka saved all three break point chances and then
finished off the match in 2 hours, 9 minutes.
In another third-round encounter, 14th-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko disposed
of 20th-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time major champion, defeated Spain's Carla
Suarez Navarro, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the round of 16 as well.
The Sports Network